The Marvels
holas79

Review by holas79 Pro

The Marvels 2023

★★½

Watched 16 Nov 2023

Maybe we've all got superhero fatigue, maybe there's too much extra work to do (watching the Wandavision and Ms Marvel series on Disney+) in preparation, or maybe the story is just a bit too formulaic and rushed. I like Kamala Khan as a character, and there were lots of routes for her to go here - to believe she can be as big a hero as her namesake, to have her eyes opened about what it takes to have superpowers, there's even a moment where she doesn't see Captain Marvel in such a great light - can we explore this further? She really should have been the star of this, but instead we have to make room for the other two heroes - one of which (Monica Rambeau), we haven't seen with powers really, save for an episode of Wandavision - there's no time to establish what her abilities are.

The plot see our three heroes switch places each time they use their powers - illustrated in an early fight with the Kree, taking place in three locations, which is very enjoyable. We then get very bogged down with the science behind why that's happening and what the antagonist's motives are, and how to find a resolution. There's talk of quantum bands, jump points, light based powers, holes in space-time... ? There are too many leaps of exposition here, most of which are unexplained, so a casual viewer has no hope of following what's going on.

We also have one of the most pedestrian bad guys ever in Dar-benn. We see her motivation, but she doesn't have much screen presence. She doesn't feel like much of an adversary either. Desperate to inject some fun, we have some really silly moments - the planet where people sing to communicate (?), the inclusion of Kamala's family after the first act, the over reliance on flerkens... The ending is poor too I'm afraid, the over-used sacrifice move - it's unearned in this story. On the upside, Jackon as Fury is good (more fun than he was in Secret Invasion certainly), Vellani is good, the effects certainly aren't bad, overall it looks good; it's not a terrible film, but it is an unfocussed and underwhelming one.

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